


lullaby of birdland

by kuroothighs



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, M/M, there'll be other pairings but i'm not tagging any other characters or pairings until they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 22:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4117840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroothighs/pseuds/kuroothighs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm an illusionist," is all the boy says, and he gives Daichi another warm smile. "You shouldn't be here. Close your eyes."</p><p>Daichi stares at the other child, unsure what he was supposed to do. He refuses to do what he was told, but he grows more apprehensive by the second because the magician's smile turns brittle at the corners.</p><p>"But I want to be your friend!" he blurts out hurriedly. The boy walks slowly towards him, and the last thing Daichi sees are his lips stretched into a fond smile, mysterious but welcoming, before the illusionist wraps his hand over Daichi's eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lullaby of birdland

**Author's Note:**

> i should stop writing new fics and start finishing the ones that actually need finishing. when will that day come. so here's a circus au no one asked for that's been bouncing around in my head since january and which i only got to finally finish tonight. it took me six months to finish this wtf

If it hadn't been for Suga and more to the fact that he didn't want to lose a bet against the younger kids, he wouldn't have done this.

He remembers the circus, the first time he entered it, as being one of the closest places he wanted to call his home. It's been at least seven years since the first time he saw the circus, its huge gates in majestic gold that stood towering over him, and the tents striped in a deep crimson and a velvet black. 

He remembers standing in front of the ticket booth that looked like it was swallowed by a cat, whiskers protruding from its sides and the window to it the mouth of a grinning Cheshire, and him excitedly handing out his money with trembling hands to the cashier who smiled at him kindly after giving him his ticket.

Daichi had only been eleven at the time, and as he slips through the back tent of the circus, he is immediately hit by the aroma of caramel and butter, and the gravel underneath his feet feels familiar, crackling under the weight of his shoes.

The circus looks dull. muted and lonely without people teeming through every which way, and Daichi nearly wants to duck back into the field where the other tents were set up. He almost does, as he tries to navigate his way back through which he entered except now that the tents are completely dark, he freezes.

There's a faint scent of caramel permeating the air and he breathes it in.

"Are you lost?" a voice suddenly cuts through the quiet and still tent, and it sounds like someone's talking right in front of him. Daichi whips his head up, trying to get his eyes used to the darkness but it's useless.

He wonders how the voice knows he's there when he can't see anything for himself, but when he hears it speak again, it sounds like it's coming from all directions. "You're not supposed to be here."

Daichi's heart pounds in his chest and he crouches down, laying flat on the ground, trying not to make a sound. He's not even sure if he's ready to fight anyone should they find out he sneaked in, but he could at least try.

"You're not supposed to be here," the voice repeats and this time, Daichi stops attempting to crawl his way out. He couldn't see anything anyway.

He straightens up, dusting off the dirt on the knees of his trousers, and turns to the direction where he thinks the voice is coming from. "You got me," he says, and raises his arms behind his head. It's still pitch black in the tent so he closes his eyes, and tries to imagine what this person could do to him now that he was caught trespassing.

Neither of them make a sound, and he doesn't even hear the footsteps coming but a hand comes to rest on top of his head. "You're not supposed to be here," the voice says yet again, making Daichi bite his lips to keep from sighing. "And yet you are. Impressive."

The tone of the voice makes Daichi shudder involuntarily. He can imagine a sly mouth curling up into a smirk, and cat-like eyes peering at him mischievously from under unruly bangs. It doesn't sound as if it's mocking him, but he takes a step back anyway.

The cold sweat running down his back and soaking his shirt begins to feel uncomfortable, and his throat goes dry. He shivers when the hand on his head threads its fingers through his hair, and then the world fades into clarity, slowly and carefully, until he can see who the voice belongs to - it's a little boy standing in front of him. The entire tent is bright, lit up by something that Daichi can't see but he's too distracted to look too hard.

"Aren't you going to rat me out to them?" he stammers. He doesn't know who 'them' is, but he asks just in case he needed to gauge the number of people he was going to run away from.

The other kid quirks his head to the side, and continues to watch Daichi squirm nervously. It's unnerving to be under such scrutiny and soundless observation so Daichi decides to stare him back down.

He's only just as tall as Daichi himself, but his hair sticking up at some odd angles makes him look taller. He's smiling at Daichi warmly, and he finds himself breaking into a smile of his own.

The fear from earlier dissipates into relief and surprise when the other boy erupts into giggles, and it's infectious so Daichi joins in.

The boy's laughter fills the tent, flutters and comes to rest inside Daichi's chest. Daichi thinks he'll be hearing this kid's laughter bouncing around his head for the next few days.

"What's your name?" he asks, after their laughter dies down.

He doesn't expect the little boy to answer, but after a while, he just holds out a hand which Daichi stares at dubiously. He squints up at the kid's face, confused when all he sees there is a friendly smile and playful eyes.

_Just like how I imagined earlier even when I couldn't see his face._

When he looks down, the boy's palm is open facing up, and on top of it is an elegant feather, the color of the night sky, dark but glossy and smooth.

Daichi is torn between wanting to pick it up but not knowing whether it was being offered to him or not. His new friend pushes his hand towards him, and he takes that as a yes. He picks it up, and asks, "is this mine?"

"I'm an illusionist," is all the boy says, and he gives Daichi another warm smile. "You shouldn't be here. Close your eyes."

Daichi stares at the other child, unsure what he was supposed to do. He refuses to do what he was told, but he grows more apprehensive by the second because the magician's smile turns brittle at the corners.

"But I want to be your friend!" he blurts out hurriedly. The boy walks slowly towards him, and the last thing Daichi sees are his lips stretched into a fond smile, mysterious but welcoming, before the illusionist wraps his hand over Daichi's eyes.

Everything turns dark again. The darkness swallows him and he feels it spill over until it's like he's drowning in it. He feels like there are cotton balls inside his ears, but then suddenly, he's surrounded again by the sounds of other children shouting and laughing, and vendors calling out, bells ringing in the distance.

He looks around wildly for any trace of the illusionist but all he can see are striped stalls and more kids running around. Daichi rubs his eyes once, twice, checks to see if he hadn't been imagining all that.

Suga's voice echoes in his head, laughing and cheerful. "I dare you to bring something back from the tents of the night circus," he had told him. He opens his hand, gripping too tightly, but the feather isn't ruffled.

It doesn't even feel like it's there because it feels weightless on his palm, but it doesn't so much as flutter when the wind blows.

Daichi walks out of the circus that night, happier and more hopeful than he's ever been in his life. He believes he's made a new friend, even if the other boy doesn't know it, and he's going home with a gift that he thinks he'll keep from the other kids for now.

When he gets to his room, he pulls out a hat box his mother used to have and gently places the feather inside. Daichi makes sure he tucks it back under his bed, and he falls asleep with a grin plastered across his face.


End file.
